Fox and Geese

An adaptation of a board game played with varying game pieces across different cultures, this one sets a cross-shaped playfield made of 33 square cells arrayed with seventeen goose pieces (A through Q) and one fox piece. Play begins with the fox in the centre and the geese filling the bottom and side edge positions. Fox moves first, and can move one cell in any direction; the geese team can move one goose per turn, in any direction but down.

The fox, naturally, seeks to eat the geese, which is accomplished in game terms as it is in checkers, by jumping over an adjacent goose into an empty space immediately beyond it (where, if another delicious goose presents itself in a vulnerable position, it can also be captured similarly in the same turn, and so on.)

The game is won for the geese if they manage to completely surround the fox or corner him such that he cannot make any legal moves (single-square journeys or goose-capturing hops). The game is considered won for the fox if he manages to winnow the flock down to six geese, the minimum number needed to capture him, and also if the geese have no legal moves available or the fox is situated beneath them (as, remember, the geese cannot move down), in which case the fox is considered to be free to pick off the geese, unseen, from behind at his leisure.

This version of the game is two-player, and has no computer opponent available.